Cinematographic registering apparatus



Aug' 31 1943 G. F. RACKETT 2,328,492

CINEMATOGRAPHIC REGISTERING APPARATUS Filed Feb. '7, 1942 Patented Aug.3l, 1943 CINEMATOGRAPHIC REGISTERING APPARATUS Gerald F. Rackett, LosAngeles, Calif., assignor to Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation,

Hollywood, Calif.,

a corporation of Maine Application February 7, 1942, Serial No. 429,8844 claims. (01.101-130) In printing motion pictures, whetherphotographically with light or mechanically by imbibition, it isessential that the printing lm be pressed into intimate contact with thefilm to be printed. In both photographic and mechanical printing thelack of intimate contact results in loss of definition, and in printingrby imbibition there is the further difiiculty of lack of dye transferfrom the printing matrix to the blank film to be printed if the twofilms are not pressed into intimate contact and retained in thatcondition while the dye is being imbibed by the blank from the matrix.

Objects of the present invention are to produce registering apparatuswhich will press two films into intimate contact throughout their entireareas, which is simple and economical to manufacture and which isdurable and reliable in use.

According to the present invention the apparatus comprises a registerbelt having teeth for engagement in the sprocket holes of the films,together with means for feeding the belt along an orbital path includinga curved part and a portion leading to the curved part, a seating belthaving sprocket holes to receive the teeth, and means for feeding thefilms and the seating belt to the register belt in the aforesaid portionand thence around the curved part, the pitch of the teeth beingapproximately a multiple of the pitch of the sprocket holes in theseating belt so that the seating belt is drawn toward the register belt'by the fanwise movement of the teeth relatively to each other as theregister belt is curved, thereby compressing the films into intimatecontact between the two belts. While the register belt preferably has atooth for every sprocket hole of the lms the pitch of the teeth may betwo or more times that of the sprocket holes.

For the purpose of illustration a typical em bodiment of the inventionis illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a `belt printer of the type referredto;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the aforesaid belts and films in thecurved part of the orbital path;

Fig. 3` is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a side View of the right-hand end of the printer; and

Fig. 5 is the section on line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

The particular embodiment of the invention chosen for the purpose ofillustration comprises two sheaves I and 2 over which is trained anendless belt 3. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3 the register belt 3 comprisesa band of approximately the width and thickness of cinematographic film,the belt preferably being made of metal and cai rying register pins orteeth 4 adapted to fit into the sprocket holes of the films. The detailsoi the construction and manufacture of various parts of the apparatus,including the register' belt, are disclosed in Patents 1,675,743,1,704,328, 1,707,695, 1,707,699, 1,707,710, 1,707,733, 1,928,714,2,257,254 and 2,271,572.-

For imbibition printing the blank film 5 and a matrix film 46 are fedinto superposed Contact on the belt, the matrix 6 having first beensoaked in dye of the appropriate color and the blank 5 having beenconditioned to imbibe the dye from the matrix when'the films are pressedinto intimate contact on the belt. As disclosed in the aforesaid patentsthe lms 5 and E are preferably brought together under water in a tank lin order to exclude air bubbles from between the films, the tank havingnarrow slits for the belt to pass into and out of the tank. Above andybelow the sheave 2 are guide rolls 8 and S pivotally mounted at I0 andII on arms I3 and I4, the arms having extensions I5 and I6 cooperatingwith compresn sion springs I1 and I8 for urging the rolls 8 and 9 towardthe sheave 2. At the top and bottom of the machine two other guide rollsI9 and 20 are mounted in line with the rolls 8 and 9. Trained over therolls 8, 9, I9 and 20 is a seating belt 2| similar to the register belt3 except in that no register pins are mounted in its sprocket holes.'Ihe seating belt travels in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 4 andafter passing over the roller 8 it feeds into superposition to the lms 5and 6 on the register belt 3 (Fig. 3).

As shown in Fig. 5 the sheave 2 has a rubber rim 22 with circumferentialrecesses at the sides to accommodate the heads of the pins 4. The roller8 has iianges 23 immediately inside the rows of register teeth and rings24 secured to the flanges by screws 25 outside the rows of reg isterteeth. Intermediate the flanges 23 and the rings 24 are rings 26 whichhave notches in their outer peripheries to accommodate the projectingends of the teeth 4.

In operation the two films 5 and 6 are fed to the belt in the straightportion of its orbital path immediately in advance of the point wherethe belt starts around the curved portion of its orbit at the sheave 2.Atthis point or slightly in advance of this point the seating belt 2| isfed to the register belt in superposition to the two films, the twobelts and the films being pressed together by the spring Il actingthrough roller 8. As the seating belt enters the curved portion of itsorbit the projecting ends of the register' teeth 4 move apart fanwiseowing to the curvature of the register belt (Fig. 2) This tends to drawthe seating belt toward the center of the curved path, which in turntightly compresses the two lms between the two belts. By making theseating belt of metalits stretchability can be minimized and by suitablypredetermining the pitch of the sprocket holes in the seating belt anydesired amount of compression between the two films can be secured. Inmost cases the pitch of the holes in the seating belt may be the same asthat of the register belt and lms.

AAfter the films have thus been tightly pressed together they remain inintimate contact due to their wet condition until they are peeled apartat the roller 21, the printed nlm being removed from the belt at theroller 28. As disclosed in the aforesaid patents the distance betweenrollers 9 and 21 is great enough to permit the dye transfer to becompleted before the films are peeled apart.

It should be understood that the present dlisclosure is for the purposeof illustration only and that this invention includes all modiiicationsand equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for registering one film with another lm comprising aregister belt having teeth for engagement in the sprocket holes of thefilms, means for guiding the belt along an orbital path including acurved part and a portion leading to the curved part, a seating belthaving sprocket holes to receive said teeth, means for feeding 'thefilms and the seating belt to said register belt in Said portion andthence around the curved part, the pitch of said teeth beingapproximately a multiple of the pitch of the sprocket holes in theseating belt so that, in said curved part, the seating belt is drawntoward the register belt by the fanwise movement of the teeth relativelyto each other as the register belt is curved. whereby the films arecompressed into intimate Contact between the two belts.

2. Apparatus for registering one lm with an other film Comprising anendless register belt having teeth for engagement in the sprocket holesof, the films, means for guiding the belt along an orbital pathincluding a curved part and a por- CII asesinos tion leading to thecurved part, an endless seating belt having sprocket holes to receivesaid teeth, means for feeding the lms and the seatingbelt to saidregister belt in said portion and thence around the curved part, thepitch of said teeth being approximately a multiple of the pitch of thesprocket holes in the seating belt so that, in said curved part, theseating belt is drawn toward the register belt by the fanwise movementof the teeth relatively to each other as the register belt is curved,whereby the lms are compressed into intimate contact between the twobelts.

3. Apparatus for registering one film with another lm comprising aregister belt having teeth for engagement in the sprocket holes of thelms, means for guiding the belt along an orbital path including a curvedpart and a portion leading to the curved part, a seating belt havingsprocket holes to receive said teeth, means for feeding the lms and theseating belt to said register belt in said portion and thence around thecurved part, the pitch of said teeth being approximately equal to thepitch of the sprocket holes in the seating belt so that, in said curvedpart, the seating belt is drawn toward the register belt by the fanwisemovement of the teeth relatively Vto each other as the register belt iscurved, whereby the lms are compressed into intimate contact between thetwo belts.

4. Apparatus for registering dye-absorptive lm with a matrix filmcomprising a register belt having teeth for engagement in the sprocketholes of the lms, means for guiding the belt along an oribtal pathincluding a curved part and a portion leading to the curved part, aseating belt having sprocket holes to receive said teeth, means forfeeding the films and the seating belt to said register belt in saidportion and thence around the curved part, the pitch of said teeth beingapproximately a multiple of the pitch of the sprocket holes in theseating belt so that, in said curved part, the Seating belt is drawntoward the register belt by the fanwise movement of the teeth relativelyto eachother as the register belt is curved, whereby the films arecompressed into intimate contact between the two belts.

GERALD F. RACKETT.

